Candida albicans-Epithelial Interactions: Dissecting the Roles of Active Penetration, Induced Endocytosis and Host Factors on the Infection Process
Figure 4
Adhesion, invasion and damage of oral epithelial cells by C. albicans in the presence of serum.
(A) Adhesion of viable C. albicans cells to oral epithelial cells in cell culture medium supplemented with 10% human [hSerum] or fetal bovine serum [FBS]; (+) heat-treated; (−) untreated; ctr, C. albicans without serum. (B) Induced endocytosis of thimerosal-inactivated C. albicans hyphae. Either oral epithelial cells were supplemented with untreated and heat-treated 10% hSerum or FBS [EC] or C. albicans hyphae [Ca] were pre-incubated with untreated or heat-treated 40% serum; ctr killed hyphae without serum. (C) Cell damage of epithelial monolayers caused by viable C. albicans cells after 24 h in cell culture medium supplemented with untreated or heat-treated 10% hSerum or FBS compared to C. albicans infection with the addition of 1% serum (ctr). **, significant difference compared to control adhesion, invasion or damage (p≤0.01).
